Throughout their history toilet bowls have been manufactured in many different sizes and shapes. In recent years the plumbing industry has become conscious of the necessity for the interchangeability of products and thus the dimensions of the bowl have become increasingly limited by consensus standards. One of the standards dictates that the seat on a toilet bowl, where horizontal, be located between 15 and 16 inches above the floor. The 15-16 inch level is normal for residential and commercial bowls and is acceptable to the majority of people.
However, there are many people with physical limitations and afflictions that make the use of a 15-16 inch high toilet seat very uncomfortable, if not impossible. These handicapped people need a seat raised 4-5 inches higher. To meet this need, various seat elevator arrangements have been developed. These elevators raise the level of the horizontal seat and reduce the bending required to effectively use the bowl. Normally a seat elevator will raise the level of the seat 4-5 inches.
Toilet bowl elevators of various sorts have been commercially available for many years, one of the first being patented by Lord (U.S. Pat. No. 1,674,116) in 1928. To date, all seat elevators that have been patented must be attached to the bowl in such a way that the bowl is then restricted in its use or the elevator simply sits on the bowl. Elevators that are bolted to the bowl either through the conventional seat attachment holes or to the annular rim around the top of the bowl create many hard-to-clean areas between the bowl and the elevator while adding moisture and dirt collecting areas in the elevator itself. The result is an unsanitary attachment to the water closet bowl. By bolting the elevator to the rim or tail of the bowl its use is thereafter restricted to seated endeavors. The possible use of the bowl as a standing urinal is eliminated.
Seat elevators that merely sit on the bowl or are attached by clips are easily removed for cleaning, but they tend to be unstable. Especially considering the limitations of the person disposed to use an elevator, stability and security are of primary importance. Also, once removed there is usually no convenient or sanitary location to set the elevator.